Bail Money

DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz is already out with the party line: These were just Orthodox Jews, not the mainline, Democrat-supporting, population.

That drew an irritated email to me from a non-partisan Orthodox leader this morning.

“Of course the DNC chair has to downplay the NY9 result, that’s her job. But you would think that she would do so in a way that’s about politics by addition rather than subtraction. Chair Wasserman Schultz seems to be suggesting the Democrats should write off Orthodox Jews, rather than reach out — which is rather surprising since she has a sizable Orthodox community in her own Florida district,” he said. . . .

By the Weprin campaign’s calculation, the district is one third Jewish, and one third of those Jews are Orthodox. More detailed Democratic polling from before the campaign began found the district was 30% Jewish, and that 37% of those Jews (32% of the prime voters among them) don’t carry money on the Sabbath — an Orthodox practice.